Big 8 Split Meet - Varstiy = 1st JV = 2nd

What can I say? You never know what you are going to get when you run in the Big 8 Split Meet but I was very happy with how our team performed. We were the only team to have our entire varsity compete. Our varsity used it as a nice workout and Prashanth rebounded wonderfully from his Midwest meet to set a personal best. Another 13 season bests run as we start to near the taper period for our junior varsity athletes. I'm really looking forward to what we can do this weekend at the Stoughton Meet. Lets do everything we can to stay healthy, be rested, and mentally prepared to set PRs and compete at Stoughton.

Things to remember...gloves and hats are recommended for practices and races (solid colors for races or JMM logos). Long sleeves are going to be needed...only solid black under uniform in the race (with one logo--under armor needs to tape up one logo). Bring layers to meets to stay warm for all parts of the day.

Next Meet: Saturday 10/3 - Stoughton Invite
First Race: 9:30am
Boys Varsity: 10:05am
Boys JV: 11:15am
Awards: 12:15pm

Everyone must stay through the cool down after the JV race ~ 12pm. We will not be stopping to eat on the way home but there will be concessions at the meet.

PSAT is Schedule for October 17th @ Memorial (the day of conference)
Students interested in taking it October 14th (Wednesday) should contact the following people ASAP to setup a test time

Madison East
Ann - 204-1723

Madison LaFollette
Linda - 204-3659

Also, All City Banquet October 9th following meet at Yahara (bus will be one way!!!!) at Pizza Oven on Monona Drive - $3 for athletes - Parents asked to order food downstairs...more info to come soon.

Midwest Invite - Varsity = 6th, JV = 10th, and F/S = 11th

Saturday ended up being a great day for racing. The course was wet but held up nicely to all the runners and the conditions. The temperature was perfect and the competition was outstanding. The day started off with our Frosh/Soph race and another impressive performance by Jonah W. he helped lead the team to 7 season bests! If this group of kids decides to train hard and work together, the future of Memorial CC looks bright.
Our varsity kept the momentum going with their 6th place finish (4th place WI team). It was nice to see Aaron H. back competing and continue to see Jordan C. and Benji run well. We beat some quality teams in Verona, LaFollette, and Lax Logan but know we need to work hard to continue to improve. If we stay solid at 1,2,3 and move our 4th and 5th runners closer we are going to see some great results the rest of the season. We will be tested again this week, needing to prove our ability to beat Verona and LaF again this next weekend.
In the final race of the day, our JV started to make those steps forward to lead our squad towards where it will need to be in three weeks. Seniors Ben B., Aaron F., Brandon L., and Walter C. ran nice races and Colin S. had an amazing race (improving by almost 2 minutes!) it will be fun to see these guys races with the Frosh/Soph at our next JV competition. Overall, I was very pleased with how our team competed and many athletes took advantage of the opportunity to run season or personal bests. I hope we can keep this momentum going into the remaining weeks of the season.

Meet Results
Frosh/Soph
Varsity
Junior Varsity

Next Meet: Big 8 Split Meet - Tuesday September 29th
Hosted by LaFollette @ the Dump
Girls race 4:45pm
Boys Race 5:30pm
ALL BOYS RUN IN ONE RACE

Upcoming Events

Next Meet: Midwest Invite - Janesville
First Race: 9:15 am
Boys Frosh/Soph (top 7 not on varsity): 9:50 am
Boys Varsity (top 7): 11:00 am
Boys JV (everyone else): 12:10 pm
Awards Ceremony: 12:55 pm

WE WILL STOP TO EAT (probably at Culvers) ON THE WAY HOME!!! BRING MONEY!!!


PSAT is Schedule for October 17th @ Memorial (the day of conference)
Students interested in taking it October 14th (Wednesday) should contact the following people ASAP to setup a test time

Madison East
Ann - 204-1723

Madison LaFollette
Linda - 204-3659

Grade Level Challenge = 5th Place

It is only September...we had some good races from guys who were mentally prepared but others got worried about the hills. We need to learn that our fitness is strong enough for us to run on any course and we can compete with every team in our conference. We need to do a better job of making sure we are physically and mentally ready to race everyday. Jordan C and Benji had very nice races showing they are ready to compete for a top 10 (or maybe even top 5) finish at Conference this year. Our JV kids responded to racing hard earlier in ther race and it paid off with some season and personal PRs. The last 1/2 mile of the race will come as we get to the end of the season and as we get mentally tougher to handle the grind through the whole run.

We are off now for a week and half from racing and it is a great time to get caught up on work in the classroom and improve our overall fitness for running. We got some new runners back from injury this week and hope to have everyone ready to race at Midwest Invite. Our next course we race on is fast with lots of good competition. WE NEED TO BE READY TO RACE!

Saturday practice 8:30am at Memorial

TEAM PICTURES - MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21st - MUST HAVE TOP AND BOTTOM OF UNIFORMS FOR THE PICTURE!!!

Results
Frosh/Soph Race
Junior/Senior Race
Team Scores

West Invite - Varsity = 2nd JV = 4th

I was really impressed with our team effort last night. 17 new life time personal bests!!!! and even more season bests!!! Jordan C. became our first runner under 17 minutes this season and is just waiting for his teammates to join him. Our top 5 in varsity was at and under 18 minutes, we want that group to be under 17:30 by the end of the year. Hunter and Jordan B got there first varsity experience and learned alot from the new race experience. Our top JV guys need to continue to attack their races (we are in better shape than we are currently racing....it is mental...go compete).

As a team it was fun to get a trophy and place as well as we did. Our hard work and summer running is paying off. As I talked with the varsity about...this should become the expectation. We continue to move our varsity guys into Verona's pack and will need to do so throughout the year. We were able to beat West and Craig but they were both missing some key contributors, we will need to continue to improve to make sure we stay ahead of them. If we keep pulling single digits with our top runners and close the gap with our pack we will see lots more success throughout the year.

In JV we were missing some key competitors but up front we need to be willing to go run with the leaders. I am confident we will be able to compete with all these conference teams by the end of the year. Keep working hard in practice and take that chance during a meet to allow yourself to succeed.

Madison West Results

Next Meet:
Tuesday September 15th
Grade Level Challenge @ Pleasant View Golf Course
NO BUS: Arrive by 3:45pm (small change from 4:00pm - there will be Early Release)
First Race: 4:00
Frosh/Soph Boys: 4:40
Jr/Sr Boys: 6:00
Awards: 6:45

Parents and fans are encouraged to park across the road from the golf course and then walk over to the course or park at Middleton HS and ride a shuttle to the course (show up early)

Verona Invite - Varsity = 4th Junior Varsity = 4th

It was a warm day on Saturday and the competition was even hotter. The Verona Invite is a tough meet to start the year off with but our team performed well placing 4th in both races. This is a great starting point, especially because we know we did not race to our complete potential. The coming weeks will allow our team to continue to improve and close the gap on those conference and sectional rivals. We want to make sure we constantly are taking care of our bodies and working hard to improve at practices. It will take a lot of work to finish at the top of the conference but I think we can do that.
As expected, we saw some movement on our varsity (Jordan B and Prashanth will be trying out Varsity at our next meet) and I hope this competition helps us grow as an all around team. Some new faces are starting to make their way into the top JV and I think we will see some growth as a group the more races we compete. CONGRATS go out to our hardware winners: Varsity: Jordan C., Benji, and Aaron H. Junior Varsity: Jordan B., Prashanth, Hunter, and Ben. I look forward to even more medals and trophies in the future.

Verona Results
Boys Varsity
Boys JV

Next Meet:
Thursday September 10th
West Invite @ Yahara CC Course
Races Start: 4:00
Boys Varsity: 4:30pm
Boys JV: 5:30pm
Awards: 6:15pm

Thundercats Win!!!

40 Degree weather in August...Must be cross country season. Intrasquad was a great start to the season. We had a record number of runners (44), Jordan set a new course record (17:25), our gap between 1 and 5 runners was only 43 seconds, we have 15 runners already under 21:00 minutes on a hard course (only 12 last year at this meet), and it was a fun event for parents and runners.

Final Team Scores
Thundercats - 282
Warhawks - 293
The CORE - 293

Congrats to Andy & Jordan B for picking the winning team (with a little help from coach)

This weekend we will be competing at Verona HS (NO BUS - Arrive at 8am). Competition will be tough with 25 teams and lots of big named teams from our conference and around the state. It will be a good opportunity to see how our team ranks early in the season. I'm looking forward to finally competing against other schools and am hoping we can come home with some hardware (top 2 teams in varsity, top 40 runners in varsity, and top 30 runners in junior varsity).

RACE TIMES
9:00 Girls Varsity
9:40 Boys Varsity
10:20 Girls JV
11:00 Boys JV
11:40 Open Race (Parents/Coaches/Fans)
12:30 Awards Ceremony